The Knight of the Sun

文/凱西·特里格斯 譯/愛藝

The Knight of the Sun

文/凱西·特里格斯 譯/愛藝

I n chapter XLII ofThe Seaboard Parish(entitled “The Studio”)George MacDonald features a picture supposedly by the fictional artist Percivale, but actually, as he adds in a footnote, by his friend Arthur Hughes.He is describing from memoryThe Knight of the Sun, an oil painting done by Hughes (oil on canvas, 132cm ×101.6cm, 1859–1860).

A dark hill rose against the evening sky which shone through a few thin pines on its top. Along a road on the hillside, four squires bore a dying knight—a man past the middle age.One behind him carried his helm, and another led his horse, whose fi ne head only appeared in the picture. The head and countenance of the knight were very noble, telling of many a battle, and ever for the right. The last had doubtless been gained, for one might read victory as well as peace in the dying look. The party had just reached the edge of a steep descent, from which you saw thevalley below, with the last of the harvest just being reaped, while the shocks stood all about in the fields, under the peace of the sunset. The sun had been down for some little time. There was no gold left in the sky, only a little saffron;but plenty of that lovely liquid green of the autumn sky, divided with a few streaks of pale rose.

… “You see it is evening. The sun’s work is done, and he has set in glory,leaving his good name behind him in a lovely harmony of colour. The old knight’s work is done too; his day has set in the storm of battle, and he is lying flat in the coming peace. They are bearing him home to his couch and his grave. Look at their faces in the dusky light. They are all mourning for and honouring the life that is ebbing away. But he is gathered to his fathers like a shock of corn fully ripe; and so the harvest stands, golden in the valley beneath. The picture would not be complete, however, if it did not tell us of the deep heaven overhead, the symbol of that heaven whither he who has done his work is bound: what a lovely idea to represent it by means of the water, the heaven embodying itself in the earth, as it were, that we may see it! And observe how that dusky hillside, and those tall,slender, mournful-looking pines, with that sorrowful sky between, lead the eye and point the heart upward towardsthat heaven. It is indeed a grand picture—full of feeling—a picture and a parable.”

[2]You may take particular note of the Knight’s face. It is very similar to MacDonald’s appearance in the late 1850s, as we know from photographs and from the Munro medallion of 1858. Arthur Hughes and MacDonald fi rst met in 1857. We do not know that MacDonald actually “sat” as a model for the Knight; Hughes was probably influenced by MacDonald’s features,whether consciously or unconsciously.He used many of his friends and acquaintances like this in other works.

[3]A quotation inscribed on the frame is from MacDonald’s poem “Better Things” published in 1857: “Better a death when work is done / Than earth’s most favoured birth.” The MacDonald influence is certainly strong, though the circumstances are not known which led Hughes to use these particular lines. Nineteenth-century artists frequently added such quotations as an afterthought, when the work was complete. The story of the picture is not MacDonald’s; it probably came about by a process of amalgamation of romantic stories Hughes had read. ■

喬治·麥克唐納在其小說《海濱教區(qū)》第42章“畫室”中提及了一幅畫，據(jù)稱是書中虛構(gòu)的畫家珀西瓦爾所畫，但實(shí)際上，正如他在腳注中的說明，這幅畫是他的朋友阿瑟·休斯的作品。麥克唐納在書中憑記憶描述了休斯的這幅油畫《太陽騎士》（布面油畫，132厘米×101.6厘米，1859—1860）。［圖見本期封底］

傍晚時(shí)分，天空映襯下，一座黑黢黢的小山呈現(xiàn)眼前，余暉透過山頂幾棵干癟的松樹照射下來。山腰小道上，四個(gè)侍從護(hù)著一個(gè)奄奄一息的騎士走來，那騎士看相貌已過中年。他身后，一人拿著他的盔甲，另一人牽著他的馬，畫中只見瘦削的馬頭。騎士的頭面頗顯貴氣，看得出經(jīng)歷了多場正義之戰(zhàn)。顯然最終正義得到了伸張，因那垂死的面容顯露出的是勝利與和平。一行人剛剛下到陡坡邊，從那里可以俯瞰山谷。日落的山谷一片祥和，最后一批莊稼才收割完，地里散布著谷堆。太陽落山已有一會(huì)兒。天空已無金色殘留，只有些微橙黃，絕大部分是秋日天空那種澄澈悅目的青色，夾雜著幾抹淡淡的玫紅。

……“看，這是傍晚。太陽完成了使命，光榮謝幕，在一片和諧中留下美名，畫面色彩悅目。那位老騎士也完成了使命，他在激烈的戰(zhàn)斗中謝幕，靜躺著迎接那將臨的祥和。他們帶他回家，躺上他的榻，安息于他的墓。看他們的臉，昏暗光線下，他們都在哀悼那逐漸逝去的生命，滿懷敬意。但他將與先輩們聚首，就像熟透的麥子聚攏成垛；就像那些收割完畢的莊稼堆成麥垛，在下方山谷中閃著金光。不過，這幅畫得以完整，是因?yàn)槌尸F(xiàn)了頭頂那深邃的天空——天堂的象征，完成使命的他必定歸于天堂：用水來表現(xiàn)這一象征真是個(gè)絕妙的主意，可以說，天堂在世間無須他物體現(xiàn)，我們都會(huì)看到！注意看那昏暗的山腰、那些透著哀傷的瘦長的松樹，還有其間悲情滿滿的天空，如何引領(lǐng)我們仰望天堂，指點(diǎn)我們心向天堂。這幅畫情感充溢，真是一幅宏大之作——既是一幅畫，也是一則寓言。”

[2]請(qǐng)?zhí)貏e留意那位騎士的面孔。他與1850年代末的麥克唐納長得很像，那時(shí)麥克唐納的樣子從照片和1858年門羅的圓形浮雕都可了解。阿瑟·休斯與麥克唐納初次見面是在1857年。麥克唐納是否真的“當(dāng)了”畫中騎士的模特，我們不得而知。很可能，有意無意間，休斯受到了麥克唐納容貌的影響。在其他作品中，休斯把很多朋友和熟人也像這樣變成了畫中人。

[3]此畫畫框上刻有一句引言，出自麥克唐納1857年發(fā)表的詩作“更美好之事”：“萬事成就之殞落/勝過萬眾歡欣之降生。”麥克唐納的影響顯然很深，盡管誰也不清楚休斯為什么會(huì)引用這兩句詩。19世紀(jì)的畫家經(jīng)常在畫作完成后又添加類似的引言，作為一種反思。此畫所描述的故事并非麥克唐納構(gòu)思，而很可能是休斯在創(chuàng)作中融合了自己讀過的那些浪漫故事。 □

《太陽騎士》

ByKathy Triggs